The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

The Colston Hall, Bristol • 7 November 2006

What are the Bonzos doing on the Procol website? Is it because the late, great Vivian Stanshall came from Southend and performed with Procol, and wrote with Keith Reid? Or is it just because one of the PH webmasters has two favourite bands ...

The Bonzos: Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell (electric saw, banjo, vox); Neil Innes (vox, piano, guitars); Bob Kerr (trumpet and other brass, vox); Roger Ruskin Spear (robots, reeds, culpable trumpet); Rodney Slater (reeds, vocal, percussion); 'Legs' Larry Smith (vox, and star spots); Sam Spoons (drums, percussion and spoons)

Special guests: Ade Edmondson (vox and trumpet); Phill Jupitus (vox, guitar)

House Band: Mickey Simmonds (keyboards, ukulele, backing voices); Dave Catlin-Birch (guitars, vox); Johnny Marter (drums, backing vox); Steve Barnacle (bass, backing vox); Andy Roberts (rhythm guitar and banjo)

Props: Roger, Tim and Justin Spear (who all appeared on stage)

First set

Cool Britannia (vocal, Neil)
By a Waterfall (Dave)
[Roger's mobile 'phone routine]
My Brother Makes the Noises for the Talkies (Neil)
I'm Bored (Ade)
Look at Me I'm Wonderful / I Left My Heart in San Francisco ('Legs' Larry)
Look Out There's a Monster Coming (Phill)
Falling in Love Again (Vernon)
Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold (Rod trombone; Phill ukulele; Roger clarinet; Ade trumpet, Bob trumpet, Sam Spoons)
Noises for the Leg (Roger, Theremin leg and 'Sir Adrian Boult')
Mr Slater's Parrot (Ade, parrot; Rodney, percussion set: and four ukuleles in the band)
The Big Shot (Phill)
Hello Mabel (intro Phill, main vox Neil)
The Sound of Music (Ade)

Second set

We are Normal (Ade, I think?)
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles / The Stripper (Roger's Robot feature)
What Do you Do? (Neil ... very Beatlish, very Who-like! + Roger's three legs)
The Strain (Ade)
The Equestrian Statue (Neil)
Jollity Farm ('Legs' Larry and the audience)
Trouser Press (Roger; intro by Ade)
Little Sir Echo (Bob, with Sam as ventriloquial dummy, and the audience)
Rhinocratic Oaths (Ade)
The Odd Boy (Dave, falsetto!)
Mr Apollo (Phill)
Keynsham (Dave)
[Les Deux Collapsos: 'Legs' Larry and Roger]
My Pink Half of the Drainpipe (Ade and Rodney)
Monster Mash ('Legs' Larry, with Sam on spoons as the eponymous monster)
I'm The Urban Spaceman (Neil)
Canyons of Your Mind (Phill, as Elvis)
The Intro and the Outro (Neil as compère)

Encores

The Head Ballet (all available original Bonzos, miming to the record)
Busted (Ade and Phill > mysteriously morphing into Silent Night)

 

32	songs altogether:	10.5	from Gorilla	5	from The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse
5	from  Tadpoles	6.5	from  Keynsham	1	from  Let's Make up and be Friendly
1	non-album track	2 and two halves	Unrecorded songs	Brilliant to be seeing the Bonzos for the second time in one year, after such a protracted layoff. Good chat with Neil, Roger ditto. Nice to meet Yvonne! RC